“I call on all Hungarian Members of Parliament to reject the proposal to ban the "portrayal and the promotion of gender identity different from sex at birth, the change of sex and homosexuality" aimed at children, said Dunja Mijatović, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights today. “I urge you to remain vigilant against such initiatives to push through measures that limit human rights or stigmatise against some members of society.”

If adopted, the broadly phrased amendments to the Child Protection Act, the Family Protection Act, the Act on Business Advertising Activity, the Media Act and the Public Education Act would outlaw any depiction or discussion of diverse gender identities and sexual orientations in the public sphere, including in schools and the media. “This is not only an affront against the rights and identities of LGBTI persons but also curtails the freedom of expression and education of all Hungarians” said Commissioner Mijatović. “The proposed legislative amendments run counter to international and European human rights standards. It is misleading and false to claim that they are being introduced to protect children.”

In 2017, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that a legislative ban on “propaganda of non‑traditional sexual relations aimed at minors” was harmful to children and discriminatory, and that it reinforced prejudice against LGBTI people which is incompatible with the values of a democratic society. International human rights bodies have firmly established that children and young people have the right to receive comprehensive sexuality education, deriving from a range of protected rights, including the right to live free from violence and discrimination, the right to the highest attainable standard of mental and physical health, the right to receive and impart information and the right to quality and inclusive education, including human rights education. This is not possible in an environment that effectively bans any public discussion surrounding LGBTI issues.

According to Recommendation 2010(5) of the Committee of Ministers to member states on measures to combat discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, the leaders of Council of Europe member states have the responsibility to educate, to combat prejudices and discrimination and to work for the acceptance of LGBTI people.

E' stato firmato nei giorni scorsi tra la Garante dei diritti della persona, dott.ssa Mirella Gallinaro, e il Presidente del Tribunale ordinario di Vicenza, dott. Alberto Rizzo, un Protocollo d (...)

Am 14. Juni fand in der Volksanwaltschaft eine Besprechung mit Vertreterinnen und Vertretern der MA 35 (Einwanderung und Staatsbürgerschaft) sowie der Magistratsdirektion statt. Die Leiterin der Gruppe Interne Revision und Compliance Mag. Verena Preisl und der Leiter der MA 35 Mag. Georg Hufgard-Leitner mit Mitarbeiterinnen und Mitarbeitern tauschten ihre Erfahrungen mit Volksanwalt Walter Rosenkranz und seinem Team aus.

Am 14. Juni fand in der Volksanwaltschaft eine Besprechung mit Vertreterinnen und Vertretern der MA 35 (Einwanderung und Staatsbürgerschaft) sowie der Magistratsdirektion statt. Die Leiterin der Gruppe Interne Revision und Compliance Mag. Verena Preisl und der Leiter der MA 35 Mag. Georg Hufgard-Leitner mit Mitarbeiterinnen und Mitarbeitern tauschten ihre Erfahrungen mit Volksanwalt Walter Rosenkranz und seinem Team aus.

Die Beschwerden bei der Volksanwaltschaft im Niederlassungsbereich waren seit Jahresbeginn stetig angestiegen, weshalb sowohl die MA 35 als auch die Volksanwaltschaft Geprächsbedarf sahen. Hauptbeschwerdegrund war die Dauer der Verfahren, aber auch die schlechte telefonische Erreichbarkeit, Nichtbeantwortung von E-Mails und die schleppende Ausgabe von Einreichbestätigungen wird von vielen Betroffenen regelmäßig thematisiert.

Die MA 35 führt ihren erheblich größeren Arbeitsaufwand auf die Corona-Pandemie zurück: So seien eine Million persönlicher Kontakte nicht möglich gewesen, zB bei Antragstellungen und der Ausgabe der Karten. Bei der stattdessen vermehrten schriftlichen Kommunikation sei es zu Problemen gekommen, wenn etwa für Antragstellende unklar geblieben sei, warum sie manche Unterlagen einreichen bzw. auch erneut einreichen sollten. (...)

Today on the occasion of 12 June – World Day against Child Labor, the Protector of Citizens, Mr. Zoran Pašalić, underscored that COVID-19 pandemic had significantly exacerbated the position of children victims of labor exploitation, in particular children living and working on the streets, and made them almost invisible to the competent bodies and the entire society.

“The children who are forced to work physically, primarily “street children” are exposed to multiple risks impacting their health and psycho-physical development. The pandemic increased those risks and put them in a situation where, depending on the epidemiological protection measures, they were almost invisible to the society in such a difficult situation", said Pašalić.

Pašalić has stated that the solution of the problems that children victims of labor exploitation face could be found in recognizing and rectifying the causes why the children were exposed to physical labor, in defining whether that occurs due to the poverty they live in, so they only make income or whether it is an issue of child abuse and human trafficking.

All competent bodies should be engaged in rooting out the causes, from the competent Ministry of Family Welfare and Demography, to the Ministry of the Interior, but also to the Social Welfare Centers, which should provide support to families to escape poverty or strengthen parental capacities, said Pašalić.

“Regarding child labor, one should not disregard the position of children in rural areas and the abuse of their work in agriculture, which is frequently thought of as a part of the traditional culture. All this is a consequence of ignorance and misunderstanding of the phenomenon, child exclusion and unavailability of services”, the Protector of Citizens believes.